7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Pre-Baikal Area, No Victims Reported

On Wednesday morning, an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude in the epicentre shook the pre-Baikal area, Siberia. 5-6 magnitude shocks struck large cities of Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude. According to a RIA Novosti correspondent, the regional department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported no damages or victims. Kirill Levi, deputy director of the Institute of the Earth's Crust of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the RIA Novosti correspondent that the earthquake had been prompted by movement of the earth's crust near the Proval /Collapse/ bay in Buryatia. The bay was given its name after a part of land got inundated after a last-century earthquake. The Baikal is situated in a tectonic area and earthquakes are frequent there, Levi said. He added that underground shocks of such a force would hardly repeat later today.